Breaking News: Facebook Group Now has Over 400 Members



Breaking News: the Facebook Special Education Law Group now has over 400 members. Congratulations! The group is an excellent place for special education law people to meet and exchange discussions and suggest resources to each other. Check it out here. A lot of interesting and dedicated members make the group a fantastic resource. I encourage you to take a look and join us if you like it.


Those who use Twitter might be interested in the Twitter Special Education Law Group. You can find it here. You can also follow my "tweets" on the left-hand side of this blog.

Other special education law groups are available for those who use LinkedIn, and Ning. These social networking groups all have their own flavor and style, but they all include great people and very interesting discussions. There are also links to all of these groups on the left-hand side of the blog.

Many of you have noticed some of my technical innovations. I especially enjoy experimenting with blog posts through email and through my cellphone. The slightly garbled posts on July eighth illustrate my ongoing struggles with the voice recognition software. {Insert joke her regarding a mixed Chicago-West Virginia accent.} It is exciting though to be able to post from conferences and other restrictive locations.

Please also check out the free subscriptions on the left-hand side of the blog. There are three ways to subscribe. You can receive the posts by email. You can get the posts in an RSS reader. If you have a blog or website, you can also create a widget to insert the posts into your own site. Thanks to all who subscribe.







Alexa Posny Nominated as Secretary of OSERS



President Obama nominated Alexa Posny last week to serve as Assistant Secretary of Education for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Here is the official press release.

OSERS is the subdivision of the federal Department of Education that deals with both special education and vocational rehabilitation for adults. Here is a link to the OSERS website.

Alexa Posny is currently the Commissioner of the Kansas Department of Education. She has formerly served as Director of the federal Office of Special Education Programs and as the state Special Education for Kansas. Here is another biography of the nominee.

I have seen her speak and she is a very effective and witty communicator. Good luck to the nominee from the special education law blog.




New OSEP Guidance: Discipline for SpEd Students

This kind of got lost in the buzz over the new Supreme Court decision, but the federal Office of Special Education Programs recently published new guidance concerning discipline of students with disabilities. Discipline has always been an important area and it was one of the key reasons that the federal special ed law was created in the first place. Expulsion and long term suspensions were among the mechanisms used to prevent children with disabilities from attending public school. As a result, the predecessor of IDEA contained specific protections against disciplinary changes of placement for special ed students.

Unfortunately, the field of discipline gives many teachers, parents, administrators, principals, and regulators stomach aches. The discipline rules have become fairly complex. When understood in context, however, they are not so hard to apply.

The new OSEP guidance includes OSEP's take on whether disciplinary rules apply when the parent revokes consent for services tat had been being received; that home instruction cannot be the sole IAES option; and clarification regarding the behavior requirements. You can review the new policy guidance here.


DHHS Medicaid Reimbursement Regulations Rescinded



Last
Monday, Kathleen Sebeilus, Secretary of the federal Department of Health and Human Services announced that the Obama administration would repeal three and delay enforcement by a year of controversial regulations. The regulations would have limited the ability of school districts to receive reimbursement from Medicaid for school-based services, transportatio

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (Me...Image via Wikipedia

n and case management. The regulations had been the subject of a Congressional moratorium, but the moratorium was scheduled to expire on July 1, 2009. This action by DHHS eliminates the effect of the regulations.

I know that many readers were interested in these regs. Here is the explanation of the changes by the Council for Exceptional Children. Here is a medical news article.